A bill requiring insurance coverage for treatment of early childhood autism appears headed for passage under a compromise announced Thursday by the House and Senate Insurance Committee chairmen
Senate Bill 1 by Senate Insurance Chairman Charlie Bethel, R-Dalton, appeared doomed this session. But now it will be attached to a House bill that both chambers are expected to approve under the deal by Bethel and Rep. Richard Smith, R-Columbus, the House Insurance Committee head.
SB1’s stalling in Smith’s committee sparked conflict between the two chambers, but Bethel and Smith expressed full conciliation during a press conference Thursday afternoon.
Bethel said the bill’s annual coverage limit will be reduced to $30,000 from $35,000 and include a “sunset” provision pending voters’ approval of Smith’s plan to establish a two-tenths of a percent state sales tax to provide autism coverage. Smith’s proposal would be on the November 2016 ballot.
SB1 will be attached Friday morning in Bethel’s committee to House Bill 429. The legislation by Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, requires insurance coverage for terminal illness treatments. Under the plan, the amended HB 429 will pass the committee, then go to the full Senate and House.
Smith said his proposal, which won’t be considered until next year’s legislative session, would cover autism sufferers from birth through age 18, while Bethel’s covers those under 6..
T-SPLOST bill approved: The Senate Thursday voted to allow metro Atlanta and other areas to take another shot at regional transportation plans.
House Bill 106, completely redone by Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Tommie Williams, R-Lyons, would allow two or three counties to join forces on a transportation plan to submit to voters. The legislation, which also allows fractional sales taxes under 1 percent, passed 49-2.
Williams described the legislation as a complement to House Bill 170, the transportation spending bill whose final form will be decided in a conference committee. He said that five metro Atlanta counties could raise $600 million for transportation projects in addition to what HB 170 would raise.
Sen. Hunter Hill, R-Atlanta, spoke in favor of the bill, saying it would give metro Atlanta another chance at coming up with a transportation plan after the rejection of the T-SPLOST in 2013.
Hill said the T-SPLOST lost because voters “didn’t trust that we were going to spend the money correctly. A number of proposals were put in the proposal that didn’t seem to have anything to do with transportation.”
Under HB 106, Hill said Fulton and DeKalb counties could offer a targeted list of 10 to 15 projects and “earn the trust of voters.”
The Senate by a 48-2 vote also approved legislation to require Uber and Lyft drivers to undergo background checks.
Parliamentary drama: The Senate rejected an attempt by Sen. Mike Crane, R-Newnan, to benefit Cancer Treatment Centers of America by amending a bill regulating home health care providers.
Crane said that the amendment would allow the Newnan cancer center to treat seven Georgians who under restrictions placed on CTCA will have to go out of state to receive care. But after an objection by Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, Senate Pro Tem David Shafer ruled the amendment not germane to the bill. The Senate also rejected a bid by Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, to add temporary staff providers to the legislation. House Bill 183, by Rep. David Knight, R-Griffin, passed 51-3.
Debate over religious freedom bill: A Georgia Convention and Visitors Bureau letter that said the religious freedom bill would cost the state $15 million in convention business sparked a Senate debate Thursday.
Sen. Joshua McKoon, R-Columbus, the bill’s author, charged the hospitality industry with “economic extortion.” But Sen. Nan Orrock, D-Atlanta, countered that “wise political leaders have to listen to the business community,” and that “I don’t pooh-pooh the economic impact.”
McKoon said that the bill would give religious practice the same projection as freedom of speech, freedom of the press and the right to a trial. “This is another in the absurd and ridiculous arguments that have been made about this bill,” McKoon said.
Orrock said that the proposal “will allow discrimination in the name of religion.” Opponents say the legislation would allow businesses to refuse service to gay and lesbians.
Senate Bill 129 was tabled by the House Judiciary Committee late Thursday afternoon, making it unlikely to reach the House floor.
